If you catch yourself humming the opening bars to the Game of Thrones theme, or feeling unsettled by the soundtrack to The Handmaid's Tale, it's possible you might be a closet classical music fan without realising it.

You may think classical music is dying, but it's actually booming — and it's throwing off the confines of the past.

From film scores to television commercials and the opening of major sporting events, classical music provides the soundscape to our modern lives.

It's arguably the most influential music genre in the world. And it's never been more accessible.

"It comes with the touch of a button," says Martin Buzacott, presenter of Mornings on ABC Classic FM.

"There are so many different ways to access the music through digital means, and particularly through streaming.

"If you want to hear the Berlin Philharmonic, or see the Berlin Philharmonic playing in a concert, you can do that live, all through new technology."

Then there's YouTube: a rendition of Maurice Ravel's Bolero has 7 million views; Chopin's Complete Nocturnes, 35 million; while one version of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata has clocked-up a staggering 114 million hits, and still counting.

"I think getting used to that sort of sound, that timbre, is going a long way to getting the ear accustomed to classical orchestral sounds, and to then bring the audience over into classical music," Ayres says.

And some pop musicians are now returning to their classical roots.

"The guitar player from The National, Bryce Dessner, and people like that, they actually play in rock bands, but they are formally-trained classical musicians and they are writing now for classical music," Buzacott says.

"The Australian Chamber Orchestra have played quite a bit of Bryce Dessner's music."

Perhaps the most surprising upsurge in demand for classical music in the last decade has come from the online gaming industry.

Young American pianist Charlie Albright blames that lingering perception on a 20th century move toward uniformity and formality.

Prior to that period, says the former child prodigy, musicians and composers had a far closer relationship with their audiences.

"People like Mozart and Liszt, they were very used to improvising on the spot, and Mozart notoriously would perform in less formal settings," Albright says.

"If he did something that people liked, they would applaud in the middle of his piece and he would play that part again.

"The rules were much less stringent. Improvisation [in classical music] is very much of a lost art nowadays."

Albright, who now regularly tours the United States, says communication should be at the core of the musical experience.

"It's a reflection of humanity," he says.

"So, between each piece when I'm giving a recital I'll speak to the audience. I talk about why I like the piece or what I find difficult. I also love incorporating improvisations into concerts.

"And I will often take notes from the audience, three or four random notes and then sculpt together a 10-minute or longer piece of music. That's exciting because it's the creation of music on the spot. It's fresh and it's unedited."

And she questions whether all orchestral music should be considered classical.

"Is it sufficient consolation to say that people are listening to acoustic instruments and you can hear a cello sometimes in a video game soundtrack? Or is there something else of deep and intrinsic value that has to do with this music that demands to be attended to, it demands to not just be a background?" she asks.

"A concert experience, to me that's something worth preserving and it's got to do with mindfulness and it's got to do with attention."